Tim’s back, friends—and it’s time for a new book! So join us as we dig into Oscar Wilde’s infamous novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Discussion this week focuses on questions of biographical criticism with a book like this, the role that the character of Lord Henry plays in the structure of the novel, what the book does well and where its shortcomings might be, and much more! Happy listening!

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We’re mixing things up this week! Join David, Heidi, and Sean as they draft the great cinematic adaptations ever made. And be sure to let us know who picked the best roster of films. Happy listening (watching)!

It’s time to answer listener questions about Everything Sad Is Untrue and we have the great honor of doing that alongside the man himself, Daniel Nayeri. So press play and listen as we chat about Daniel’s mom, the way the story evolved, his journey in writing it, deckled edges from the author’s perspectives, and much more! Happy listening!

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And so we come to the end. Join David, Heidi, and Sean as they dig into Daniel Nayeri’s novel as a whole (but especially the final passages, of course), the way book pays homage to the narrator’s mother, the complexity of his father’s visit, and much more. Happy listening!

Close Reads is a community-supported publication and we need your support to keep on producing the content you love. Please consider subscribing to Close Reads HQ to ensure the future and to received some great bonus content, too!

This section of Daniel Nayeri’s novel included a lot of . . . well . . . poop. So on this week’s episode David, Heidi, and Sean discuss how Nayeri manages to make that topic funny and sad and profound all at once. Plus: the book’s great respect for the narrator’s mother. As always, happy listening!

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Daniel Nayeri’s Everything Sad is Untrue may be listed as a middle grade novel by its publisher, but it’s unlike almost any other novel in the category. So in this episode David, Heidi, and Sean discuss its unique stylistic approach and the way it conceives of stories as essential to culture, with a foray into some discussion about memory novels. Happy listening!

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Here we are at the end of our conversation on Hawthorne’s novel, which means it’s time to answer your questions. As always, you sent in lots of great ones and we did our best to answer as many as we could. Thanks for participating in the conversation—and thanks to Karen coming on the show these last six weeks!

Be sure to check out her forthcoming book, which you can find here.

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In this episode, Sean and Heidi join David and get their say about the legacy of Cormac McCarthy—and what makes his work sublime.

The great Cormac McCarthy died last week, leaving behind a canon of brilliant, challenging novels that will be long-remembered. So this week we’re sharing two episode remembering the man, discussing his work, and sharing what he means to us. In this first episode, David and Tim sit down to make a Mount Rushmore of McCarthy’s work and to discuss how his work will be remembered.

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And so we come to the end of another novel! Join David, Heidi, and Karen as they dig into the ending of Hawthorne’s novel, with special attention paid to Pearl’s role. Plus: how does the genre play into the end of the book, what do we do with Dimmsdale’s demise, and how does Hawthorne want us to respond to their plot to escape? Happy listening!